


Saying Goodbye

by IamDaiBae



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, I'm a sucker for pain ;w;, Post-Canon, Songfic, angsty as hell, made me cry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24432352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IamDaiBae/pseuds/IamDaiBae
Summary: Constance was never prepared to say goodbye so early in their lives, but good things aren't meant to last forever.-I wrote this because I wanted to see if I could make myself cry while writing it, and I did.
Relationships: Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc & Constance von Nuvelle, Yuris Leclair | Yuri Leclerc/Constance von Nuvelle
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Saying Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> If you really want to get the vibe of this fic, I strongly recommend listening to "Death Bed" by Powfu on repeat through the story. When I first heard that song, I knew I had to write something for my favorite ship.

“Yuri?” The voice of an angel rang through the nearly empty bedroom where Yuri Leclerc laid down on the far too comfortable bed. He felt as if it was more than he deserved, but maybe now wasn’t the time for him to be worrying about little trivial things like that. The door opened and Yuri struggled to sit up, which earned a shocked reaction from Constance as she dropped what she was holding and rushed to his side and helped him sit up. Normally, he would have pushed her away and done it himself, but part of him wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to accept her help. 

It was a somber thought, not knowing how much longer he will be able to have her help him sit up and relax. 

Yuri was sick, really sick. No one had been able to figure out what illness he had come down with, but his health was declining over the past year and a half. At first he refused to acknowledge it, but now he was bedridden in an engaged woman’s house. A woman he was supposed to marry, but life had different plans for the two of them, it was decided. No, it wasn’t fate or something as trivial like that, it was him wanting a better life for her. 

~

Before the war could come to an end, Yuri proposed an idea to one of his closest friends that would satisfy both of their dreams and she had agreed to it, for some miraculous reason. They were friends who became lovers for a short while. Even in this bed, he could recall how brightly she smiled back then. She was radiant, like the sun she hated so much. They began planning out their future, like their wedding and having children, much to her embarrassment. However, as a few years passed them by in the blink of an eye, he got sick and was eventually unable to provide for himself. It worried him greatly, since he knew he was prone to getting incredibly sick as a child, but this time he knew in his heart that this was different. Constance assured him that she would be the one to work, the one to make sure their future was secured, but Yuri had his pride and knew that even with their progressive times, she would never be able to afford taking care of him in a sick state; the medicine, the doctors, food, supplies. Being a genius only paid so much. 

~

_While they were planning out what to do and how to help him, Constance got an offer from a rich noble. The offer was to marry this stranger and she would have access to an immense amount of wealth and her dream was literally guaranteed. All he wanted was access to her research and to eventually have children so that both their lineages would carry on._

_“As if this man assumes I can be bought for something as trivial as this. Yuri, we are going to find a way to make things better, so I should just burn this letter right now.” Constance said, shaking her head at the nerve that this noble had to assume she could be tempted with such a shallow offer like this. Perhaps if she reached out to the Emperor, she would deal accordingly with this man._

_Yuri though… Yuri didn’t seem as opposed to the idea as she was. That was the first time he was a realist about his situation. When he didn’t speak up against it right away, Constance seemed to take offense to his lack of anger._

_“Are you playing a joke on me?! Why are you not as enraged as I?! This man is suggesting that your fiance marry another man and yet you have nothing to say?” She yelled at him, and Yuri could only look away, not wanting to face her about something like this. “Say something, dammit!” It was more of a scream this time._

_“Constance, you know we can’t kid ourselves like this.” His words were hesitant, and Constance’s jaw dropped open when she heard him say it. No, she couldn’t accept this. He was going to get better, and she was not going to end what they have just for wealth. It ruined everything their relationship was and she couldn’t take that offer._

_“But I-”_

_“Constance.” He cut her off and she stormed out of the room in tears. Yuri tried to follow after her, but his legs gave out from under him, causing him to fall._

~

_The deal was accepted shortly after and she was going to be wed off. If there was any bright side to any of this, it was that he understood her position. Her fiance knew that he wasn’t going to make it, and told her that he would wait for as long as she needed. Constance was apprehensive at first, but she slowly understood her position._

~

Sitting on the chair she had set beside his bed, Constance gave him a serving of the soup she had made for him. Her hair was a mess and she had traces of the soup’s ingredients on her face. Part of him wondered just how she managed to accomplish getting so incredibly messy cooking. He was grateful for her help, even if it was a bit overbearing at first. When he got a spoonful of the soup in his mouth, he almost spit it out. It was awful, and he was reminded that Constance definitely wasn’t a cook. It was always him who did the cooking, but he knew that those days were behind him. 

When she looked at him expectantly, he didn’t have it in him to lie to her about it. He managed to let out a grimace of a smile and a thumbs up, which made her beam with pride, clearly not seeing that he didn’t actually enjoy it. However, he did genuinely thank her for the meal and ate it all. He knew better than to let a homemade meal go to waste, especially when he could tell it was made with love.

Love, huh? A pang shot to his heart and suddenly he was reminded of his situation. Constance took the bowl and spoon from him, and noticed that he had quickly gone silent. It was hard to see the man she loved with a frown on his face, so instead she moved off of her chair and climbed into the bed beside him. Instead of fighting against it and encouraging her to not get in, he wrapped an arm around her and welcomed her leaning against him. It was comfortable having him beside her and feeling her cuddle against him. 

For a while, things got really quiet and neither of them spoke about the inevitable doom that was waiting for the former Abyss leader. 

After a moment of silence, Yuri wanted to say something but fell into a hysteric coughing fit, causing Constance to move off of him and pat his back gently, doing her best to ease the pain. His coughing fits scared her, and all she wanted was to help take the pain away from him. 

Failure.

That’s the only word that came to her mind when she thought about how she wasn’t able to make him better. She had invested so much into finding someone who could cure him, but there was no answer. 

His coughing fit lasted for a minute or two and she was right there to help him. It did calm down, and she went to grab him a glass of water from the desk in the room. As soon as she held the cup out to him, he took it quickly and quickly drank the entire glass, gasping for breath between gulps. Terrified, Constance watched him struggle to breathe and fight to be okay. Seeing the man she loved suffer broke her heart in more ways she could explain. 

~

Constance and Yuri sat on the bed together and watched the sun set. Yuri was getting a lot more weak and dependent on Constance for her help. Both of them knew he only had a short amount of time together left before he would have to go, but neither of them wanted to talk about it. Hapi and Balthus both sent letters that they were going to come visit as soon as they possibly could so Yuri was holding on until then. As they watched the sun set, Yuri decided to get some things off of his chest.

“I’m sorry, Constance.” His voice was almost the same, just more raspy since his strength had left him. When he said it, Constance tensed up and already tears threatened to fall. She knew he was going to want to talk about it, but she wasn’t ready. She was afraid. 

“I do not know what you could be apologizing for.” Constance told him, gently taking his hand into her own and squeezing it. He weakly squeezed it in return. 

“I’ve been thinking of our future, and I’m sorry I’m going to be breaking our promise.” He was looking at the sky, and Constance shook her head, doing everything she could to hold back the tears.

“Nonsense, you promised me my dream was going to come true. It’s- It’s me who is breaking our promise.” Constance’s voice strained her eyes darting around the room to stop the building tears from blurring her version. Yuri however, looked as calm as ever. “I promised you a home.” 

“It’s a shame I’m not going to be able to see it. I don’t know why this happened, but maybe it’s the Goddess punishing me for everything?” The way he said it made it sound like a joke, but Constance wasn’t laughing. Her lack of response made him chuckle weakly and he squeezed her hand gently. “Not quite ready for the jokes, I understand.” 

“I do not understand how you can be joking about this.” Constance told him, and with that the first tear slid down her cheek. Yuri swore he would never make her cry, and yet there was another promise broken. 

“I don’t either.”

He looked at the photos on the wall, there was a portrait of the pair above the fireplace in the room done by an artist that had amazing skill and had offered to do the portrait as an engagement gift for the two of them. They both had smiles as Yuri stood behind the chair Constance was sitting in. He always claimed she was the centerpiece of the portrait, much to her dismay. There were also some paintings they both had done of various plants and flowers. Constance was by far the better artist, but it wasn’t saying much. That day, Yuri remembered seeing Constance with the paint of her cheeks and sucha determined look as she painted a cactus. It was so incredibly cute. He remembered them getting into a paint fight and throwing the colors at each other. They were rainbows by the end of it and they both learned how awful it was to wash pigment out of your hair. They both were awful at it. Then a portrait of all the Ashen Wolves together along with the professor that was there for them through everything. All of the memories made him nostalgic. 

The sound of something crashing open nearly gave Constance a heart attack and she quickly rushed out of the room to see what was happening, and from Yuri’s room, he could hear the loud, but very familiar voice of an old friend ring through the building, as well as the voice of his favorite wild child. They made it in time to see him, it was a nice thought he figured.

He could hear them rushing upstairs, and before he knew it he could see them in the doorway, Balthus and Hapi seemed almost in shock. He motioned for them to come in and they took seats on his bed. Constance however stayed in the hallway and watched them talk to their leader. The sight of them talking, the worried look on their faces was getting to be too much and she left the estate. Outside of their home, Constance had a garden full of beautiful flowers that she had planted right outside of his window so that for when he stopped being able to leave his bed without help, he would still have a beautiful sight to see outside. 

There was a bench in the center of the garden where she often did her thinking when she needed a break, and this time it was an escape from the terrible reality that was given to her. As soon as she sat down, she began sobbing and crying. It was so hard to see everyone back together, knowing that he was going to be gone soon. The more she thought, the harder she cried. It was silent outside except the desperate sobs and pleas that came from the blonde. It felt like forever since she finally let it out and suddenly she heard footsteps from behind her and she turned, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was both of them with sorrowful expressions as they went over and sat on both sides of her. Hapi wrapped an arm around her waist and Balthus wrapped one around her shoulders and let her cry her heart out.

“I… I’m sorry Coco.” Hapi spoke up, clearly she was doing her best to hold back her own tears at the situation. 

“We, uh…” Balthus started, but he wasn’t sure where to even go with something like this. “If there’s anything we can do for you, let us know, yeah? You don't gotta go through this alone.” He made sure she knew they were there for her, and in response, Constance wrapped her arms around the two of them. They sat there for a short while before Constance knew she had to return back inside. Time was running out. She didn’t know what was telling her that, but she quickly rushed back inside and made her way back to his room. 

He must have been waiting for her. Though she could see the tear stains on his cheeks, talking with them must have made him cry as well. From the window, she could see the two of them breaking down as well and something told her that this was going to be the last night she was going to get to see him. He must have felt the same way, because she could tell his regular cool and collected demeanor wasn’t there. Silently, Constance went and sat on the bed beside him, taking his hand into hers. It was weak, but he gently squeezed her hand. 

“I’m upset that my life is going to be cut off so short.” Yuri said out loud, and Constance nodded sadly. “But I suppose the Goddess allowed me to have some blessings to see me off before I go.” He looked out the window and a few tears rolled down his cheeks before he looked at her, seeing that she was crying again. Constance moved her other hand to wipe away his tears and cradle his cheek in her hand. The comfort made him relax a little. “I’m happy to know you were mine, Constance. I’m you’re here with me. I’m just sorry it’s ending.” Saying that, Constance choked up another sob. He smiled sadly at her, his eyes looking into hers. To keep his mind busy, he continued talking. “Remember back before the war? How whenever you’d see a rat you’d jump at me. I’d catch you without fail every time.” It was a simple memory, but it did get Constance to laugh weakly, nodding. 

“I wasn’t used to seeing rats or animals in my living space. Then we became the rats.” When she called them rats, it earned a laugh from Yuri as well. Together they reminisced about their academy days and the war they fought through. “Do you remember confronting my childhood friend?” Constance asked, and Yuri nodded with a satisfied grin. 

“Of course I do, he was fun to mess around with. For some reason, when I told him I was going to marry you, he had gotten really angry and upset.” He said, and Constance froze for a moment. Yuri could only grin at her. 

“But that was before our arrangement-” Constance said before she laughed, a few more tears falling.

“So it was. I guess that just means I knew I wanted to be with you back then.” He told her, and Constance squeezed his hand with a shake of her head in disbelief. “What? Don’t believe me? You’ve had my eye, since the first time you’ve annoyed me.” He teased her with a weak smile. Slowly he began getting weaker and Constance could see the panic build in him, but he still smiled at her, though it was tight and scared. 

Instead of freaking out and letting herself freak out, she stayed calm and held his hand, brushing his hair out of his face.

“I’ve loved you for a long time, Yuri. I love you now and I promise I always will.” Constance told him, and Yuri nodded, his breathing started to get shallow and she knew… She knew it was going to be time to say goodbye sooner than later. 

“You know, Shadylady,” Yuri started, doing his best to hang on for just a little longer, and Constance could only smile, tears rolling down her cheeks more and more with every passing second. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye, she didn’t want to. “I hope I go to heaven, so I can see you again.” His words began to trail off. “I love you, Constance.” He breathed out his last sentence and his eyes closed. All too suddenly, his entire body relaxed and went limp. 

The scream that left that room was ear piercing and deafening, causing the other two wolves to rush back into the room to help their friend leave the room and call a doctor. 

~

Constance had set up for a funeral to be taken place by Abyss, the one place he loved the most. Hapi and Balthus helped take on a majority of the preparations and the stress of planning a funeral for the man that they all loved. It was a small ceremony that had more attendants than any one could have guessed. Yuri truly had reached out to so many people over his short life, it made Constance grateful to have known such an amazing man in her life. It was a short ceremony, and Constance couldn’t find it in her to sit through the entire thing, still very emotionally raw about everything. 

Standing at the Goddess Tower, she stared into the distance as she let herself fall into her thoughts. She thought about how they had met up on the tower the day after the war and he had officially proposed to her. She had given him a ring as well, that was where they also had their first kiss. The fact they both had lived through a war had been the blame for such a forward advance they had made, but Constance knew that it was because she was excited to spend the rest of her life with him.

Now she saw just how naive she was to think like that. She should have known better after losing her family, and now she lost the one man she wanted to grow old with. The Goddess was a cruel woman, if she was out there. Sitting on the edge, she stared at the sun set. It was a lot like the one she watched with Yuri before he passed. As she thought of him, suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Part of her wished that she would turn and see him behind her with that smile she had loved so much, but instead it was Hapi with Balthus behind her. They both looked awful, but Constance knew she hadn’t looked any better. Without saying a word, they both sat beside her, wrapping an arm around the blonde as she wrapped her arms around them as well. Feeling them support her, Constance let herself tear up once again and cry with them. 

They sat there until the sun had set and the moon had come out. To take their minds off the terrible day, Hapi and Balthus were pointing out the stars while Constance stared into the night’s sky. listening to them. She tried so hard to think of anything else, but all she could do was think about him and how much she wished he was still there with her. If she could see her, he would probably make fun of her for crying over him so much. She knew she had to pull it together, but after doing her thinking, she knew what to do for her future.

That following morning, Hapi and Balthus were kind enough to make her breakfast back at the estate. It was obvious that they were concerned about their friend, and Constance found herself grateful for their company through this awful time for her. With their help, Constance found the power and courage to decline the offer she had received. Though the funds and status would absolutely jump start the future she craved, however without Yuri, she had no rush for it. If she was going to get her status back, it was on her terms. The two friends helped her write the official letter, and once it was finished, the three of them sat at the table, letting out a collective sigh. 

“Are you sure this is what you wanna do, pal?” Balthus asked, wanting to make sure she wasn’t going to disrespect Yuri’s wishes or throw away a great deal, but Constance nodded, a look of determination in her eyes.

“If I cannot marry him, then there is no point. I want to make things happen on my own, not on a whim, Balthus.” Constance sounded so sure about it that there was no choice but to believe her on this. 

~

The man who made the offer was originally angry with her, but came around to understand where she was coming from. He made sure to leave the offer open, but when she declined over and over, he finally took the deal off the table and made sure to let her know what an awful mistake she was making. Constance listened to his words and let him yell and complain about her going back on the deal, but she knew that this was the way things had to be. Hapi and Balthus stuck around to make sure that things wouldn’t get violent or out of hand, and acted as her security for the situation.

After he left, Constance made herself as well as her friends a cup of tea, and a spare cup as well. It was their favorite blend, them being Constance and Yuri. Constance leaned against the counter and looked to the full tea cup beside her, watching the steam from the boiling water. She knew one day she would stop making a spare cup of coffee, but the action helped her slowly adjust to the fact he wasn’t around her anymore. Hapi called her over so they could all enjoy tea together so she wouldn’t have to be alone with her thoughts for the time being. 

Then Hapi and Balthus would have to leave to continue on with their lives. Hapi had returned back to her home village and was a rather important figure there. Balthus had to return to his mother as well, acting as a protector of the mountain folk. It wasn’t easy for them to leave her alone, but they extended their homes to her if she ever needed to be with someone. Constance was surprisingly okay with them leaving as long as they promised to keep in contact with her and make sure to answer her letters. Hapi gave her a look as if it was already obvious that she intended on it and Balthus laughed and pounded on the table, promising that he would write to her until she got annoyed with him. In that moment, Constance could feel herself slowly returning to her true self. 

~

After they left, Constance buckled down and worked on her magic and research on such a large scale. Her spells were growing more intense and useful, but she began to take less and less care of herself. She wasn’t sleeping or eating as much as she could, and even the maids were beginning to tell her that she needed to stop working so hard, yet she refused to listen to their advice.

It wasn’t until she was out in town buying some magical components that she felt her life change in front of her. Her change purse had been stolen from her arm and she watched as a young boy started to run away. Quickly, Constance cast a spell to make his shoes weigh him down like cement bricks, and when she went to confront the boy, she nearly dropped what she was holding. 

He was a blonde young boy with the prettiest lilac eyes, a slim face and a smug smirk on his face. He couldn’t have been older than thirteen. When he looked up to her, he seemed to soften up as well. It took Constance a moment to take her coin purse back and reverse her spell on the boy. She demanded to know where his parents were and if he had a place to call home. When he shook his head in response and got reserved, Constance extended her hand to him and offered to adopt the young boy and have him stay with her as a research assistant. 

After that day, Constance became a true mother to the young boy and he was the best helper with her research. His magical ability was honed as he aged with Constance’s help, and when she was getting too old to carry on with her magical research, he inherited everything she had put towards it. As Constance got older, he was the one to take care of her. Sometimes when he would cook for her, she would see Yuri in front of her. When he smiled, it was so much like his, it hurt her heart. Perhaps it was the Goddess’ way of apologizing to her. 

During her time of being alive, Constance was able to reinstate her house, not for herself, but to make sure that her son and his family would have something to remember her by. 

The last thing Constance saw was her son in front of the portrait of her and Yuri. Beside her son was his husband as well as Constance’s grandchildren. As everyone was crying and saying their goodbyes, Constance could see Yuri reaching out for her hand with a smile. Seeing him again made Constance cry and nod to him, reaching out for him as well as she let him guide her to the light.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to add that a lot of this was inspired by various music and songs, but also looking over the amazing YuriCoco art that @blamedorange on Twitter draws just has me so,,, INSPIRED all the time. I like seeing what genres I feel comfortable writing and seeing amazing work always makes me want to write more ;w;


End file.
